United Hatzalah of Israel founder awakens from coronavirus coma

Eli Beer, founder of United Hatzalah of Israel (Courtesy/United Hatzalah of Israel)

It is unclear where or from whom Eli Beer contracted the deadly virus.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

Eli Beer, the founder of United Hatzalah of Israel amd president of the U.S.-based Friends of United Hatzalah, has awoken from a medically induced coma after contracting coronavirus three weeks ago, a statement by Hatzalah CEO Eli Pollack said.

“Beer’s wife, Gitty, and his children would like to thank the public for their prayers, worry, empathy, and devotion,” Pollack said.

“We will continue to pray for the quick and complete recovery of Eliezer Yehuda, the son of Chaya, and with G-d’s help we will soon see him continuing to lead our unique organization, United Hatzalah,” he added.

Beer, who was in Florida to fundraise for Hatzalah, started experiencing shortness of breath and fever and was taken on March 18 to Miami University Hospital, where he was diagnosed with coronavirus and pneumonia.

As Beer’s condition worsened, doctors decided on March 22 to sedate him and place him on a respirator.

It is unclear where or from whom Beer contracted the deadly virus.

United Hatzalah of Israel is a fully volunteer organization that provides 24/7 fast and free emergency medical response services.

The United States is still being hit hard by the coronavirus.

As of Friday, 466,299 Americans are confirmed to have coronavirus and at least 16,686 have died from the deadly disease, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the high death count, a top medical official for the Trump administration believes that the pandemic is leveling out.

“At the same time as we’re seeing the increase in deaths, we’re seeing a rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalizations,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters at a Thursday White House briefing

“That means that what we are doing is working and therefore we need to continue to do it,” he said.